Archive for the ‘De Soto’ tag

As the 1920s gave way to the 1930s, the Art Deco movement influenced everything from industrial design through architecture, including automotive design. In 1934, the limited-production Stout Scarab tried to change the future of family transportation, while in Europe the Tatra 77 debuted to stunned audiences, with both featuring a shape that rewrote the book on automotive design. Another car, introduced the same year by Chrysler, also sought to define the future of the automobile, and while the Chrysler Airflow was never a commercial success, it did leave a lasting imprint on the automotive industry.

Carl Breer, who with colleagues Fred Zeder and Owen Skelton would form the engineering triumvirate referred to as Chrysler’s “Three Musketeers,” noted that both migrating geese and military aircraft flew in “V” patterns to optimize aerodynamics. Convinced that airflow could have a profound impact on automotive design, Breer consulted aircraft engineer Bill Earnshaw and Orville Wright, and soon the group had constructed a crude wind tunnel for the primary purpose of designing Chrysler’s next line of automobiles.

Tests of conventional automotive designs revealed some startling data: The tall vertical surfaces of conventional automobiles created massive amounts of drag, meaning that cars of the day would have been 30 percent more efficient if the body was reversed on the chassis. Ideally, Breer realized, cars should be shaped like the rigid airships of the day, which allowed the easy passage of air around a pointed nose. Such a design may have been aerodynamically optimum, but it was also impractical for a road-going vehicle that still needed style to lure buyers into showrooms. The compromise was a concept called the Trifon, produced in the late 1920s, which Chrysler went to great lengths to keep secret from the public.

In production form, the Trifon became the Chrysler (and De Soto) Airflow, revealed to the public in January of 1934. The first American production car to be shaped in a wind tunnel, the Airflow looked like little else on the road at the time. Instead of a tall vertical grille and a long hoodline, the Airflow featured a “waterfall” grille that canted back into the hood itself. Front fenders mirrored this curve, but lacked headlights mounted atop them; instead, these lights were blended into the front of the car to reduce drag. The Airflow’s two-piece windshield was steeply raked (by standards of the day, at least), and conveyed a sense of motion even when the car was parked. In the rear, fenders were skirted to reduce turbulence, while the roofline curved gracefully to the rear bumper, following the lines of the minimized rear fenders.

As stunning as the Airflow was on the outside, it was equally revolutionary beneath the skin. Gone was the body-on-ladder-frame construction of conventional automobiles, replaced by an “envelope” design that used steel body panels welded to a steel space frame. The resulting design was exceptionally strong, and an early demonstration film showed a test driver rolling the Airflow with minimal deformation to the roof, then simply starting the car and driving it away. Later stunts undertaken to prove the car’s safety to a skeptical public including pushing the car off a 110-foot cliff, then righting it and driving off.

Breer wanted to produce a car with superior handling ability as well, so his engineering team located the Airflow’s inline eight-cylinder engine over the front axle, while the rear passenger seat was moved forward of the rear axle. As a result, the Airflow’s weight distribution was reported to be 54 percent front and 46 percent rear with just the driver in the car, or an optimal 50/50 distribution with the driver and passengers. The space frame design allowed the Airflow to be lower than conventional automobiles of the day, and this dropped center of gravity further enhanced the car’s handling.

Chrysler offered the Airflow in a wide array of trims and multiple body styles, including two-door coupe, two-door brougham, four-door town sedan and four-door sedan in base (CU) trim. Larger CV Imperial Airflow models were offered in two-door coupe, four-door sedan, and four-door town sedan variants, and at least one chassis and cowl-only CV model was built. In Custom Imperial trim (CX and CW models), the Airflow came exclusively with four doors, in sedan, town sedan, limousine or town limousine variants. To hedge its bets against a fickle buying public, Chrysler carried over conventional models for the 1933 model year as well, but its De Soto brand would receive only Airflow models to sell.

The Airflow’s reveal came at the New York Auto Show in January of 1934, but Chrysler had not yet begun producing inventory for distribution to dealers. Initial consumer interest was high, but production was taking longer than anticipated due to the Airflow’s complex construction methods (which included more welds, and more types of welds, than traditional automobiles). Six months would pass before customer deliveries would begin, and early production cars quickly developed a reputation for poor build quality. Owners reported everything from squeaks and rattles to engine mount failures, and rival automakers were quick to add to Chrysler’s misfortunes. Some publicly questioned the safety of the Airflow’s radical space frame design, leading Chrysler to perform the 110-foot drop test off a Pennsylvania cliff for newsreel footage. Even this wasn’t enough to convince a public now distrustful of the Airflow’s innovations, and the sales slide began to pick up momentum.

For the Airflow’s sophomore year, Chrysler restyled the nose to give the car a more conventional appearance and at the same time dropped under-performing models (like the four-door town sedan models) from the lineup. Conventional models (now called Airstream) continued to outsell Airflow models, and sales of the streamlined Chryslers fell from 10,838 in 1934 to 7,751 in 1935. This downward progression would continue, and in 1937, the Airflow’s final year on the market, Chrysler would build just 4,600 examples. As bad as the news was for Chrysler, it was even worse for De Soto. In 1933, the division sold 22,737 automobiles, but following the 1934 introduction of the “Airflow only” business model, sales plummeted to just 13,940 cars. In response, Chrysler scrambled to provide De Soto with conventional automobiles to market in 1935, and the division’s financial ruin was narrowly averted.

The immediate result of the Airflow’s failure was a change in design philosophy at Chrysler. Bold innovation was out, replaced by a conservative design aesthetic that would be the hallmark of the brand until the Virgil Exner years of the mid-1950s. While the Airflow was, perhaps, a bit too innovative for the day, it’s equally likely that the pendulum swing to the opposite direction of “take no chances, stylistically,” also had a negative impact on Chrysler sales.

Though the Airflow was never the sales success envisioned by Walter P. Chrysler (and by Carl Breer), it did predict a future where the wind tunnel would become as important to car design as the slide rule (and later, the computer). It advanced the idea that body-on-ladder-frame construction was, perhaps, not the only way to design an automobile, and that a lower center of gravity and optimized weight distribution were key to improving production car handling. Viewed in that light, the Chrysler Airflow was anything but a failure.

Chris Binder of Spencer, Iowa, had such a love of De Sotos that his last wish was to be carried to the cemetery in the back of his 1958 De Soto ambulance. Understandably, he had amassed a collection of multiple De Sotos – in fact, a collection of at least one example from every model year – and the youngest of those, a 1961 De Soto two-door hardtop, will head to auction next month.

In 1957, De Soto was atop its game as a mid-priced division of Chrysler. Sales had grown from 109,442 units for the 1956 model year to 117,514 for the 1957 model year, spurred on by the success of models like the new Firesweep and the ongoing Firedome and Fireflite. By 1960, however, the end of the division was in sight for anyone paying close attention: Sales of 1958 models plummeted to 49,445, and by the 1960 model year De Soto was selling just over 26,000 cars annually. The 1961 models debuted in October of 1960, and 47 days later Chrysler announced that its De Soto brand would be shuttered at the end of the 1961 model year. That makes the De Soto that Binder bought in November of 1960, chassis number 6113112247, one of just 911 two-doors De Soto built that year.

For its final model year, De Soto did away with model lines and offered just a single trim level, in two- and four-door hardtop configurations. Each was based on the previous year’s Fireflite model, though the styling was similar to the modestly updated 1960 Adventurer models. All 1961 De Sotos came powered by the 361-cu.in. V-8 previously seen in the Fireflite, rated at 265 horsepower and typically mated to a TorqueFlite three-speed automatic transmission (though a manual transmission could be special ordered at a reduced price). Underneath, the De Soto Coupe used an independent front torsion bar suspension, with a live rear axle and leaf springs in the rear. Drum brakes were used in all four corners.

Though he lived until 2006, Binder didn’t put too many miles on the De Soto, just 6,135 – not necessarily because he didn’t appreciate the car, more because he had plenty of other De Sotos to drive. Mostly original, this example is said to have received a repaint in the original Glacier White following Binder’s death. The interior of the car is untouched, and includes the deluxe steering wheel, deluxe radio, Solex glass, and padded dash. This example also features both power steering and power brakes, and comes with the original window sticker, two broadcast sheets, the owner’s manual and a copy of all registration documents since the car was first registered. At the October 2007 VanDerBrink auction that dispersed Binder’s collection, the De Soto reportedly sold for $21,000. RM is predicting that the De Soto, which will cross the block with no reserve at its Hershey auction, will sell for $50,000 to $60,000.

RM Auctions’ Hershey, Pennsylvania, sale is scheduled to take place October 10 to 11. For additional details, visit RMAuctions.com.

We haven’t yet seen any documentation or reference that corroborates the claim that Fireflites could come with the Plum/Lavender color combination or engine that this 1956 De Soto Fireflite for sale on Hemmings.com sports, but there’s no denying that they’re both eye-catching features or that the quality of the restoration appears top notch. From the seller’s description:

Has had an exceptionally well done frame-off restoration by a nationally known Mopar restorer. It is done in factory colors of iridescent plum and iridescent lavender, with the correct cloth and leather interior to match exactly the way it could have come from the factory in 1956. The cloth top matches the iridescent plum very well and has the very large back window that was only done for 56 De Sotos and Chryslers. This car has power steering, brakes, windows, power seat, radio and heater. It also has the dual 4-bbl carb. set- up that came standard on the Adventurer, but also could have been special-ordered on the Fireflite on the 341-cubic-inch Hemi engine.

Two years later, Young’s was advertising the all-new, dynamically styled “Forward Look” Plymouth range. These cars were a real step forward for Chrysler, and introduced many neat features to the low-priced class. You’ve gotta love the push-button transmission, the miracle fabrics… they’re breath-taking!

And now for something different: My father also clipped a circa early-1940s ad below for Walt’s Service Station in nearby Newburgh, New York. Such a bustling scene it portrays, with six spotless and neatly attired attendant mechanics catering to these vehicles’ every need. Are your leaf springs crying out for lubrication? If you can afford the $1 charge, Walt’s is the place for you. Open Sundays!

* Automotive history is rich with talented individuals such as Howard Scott, an artist who created several Rockwell-esque illustrations for the 1942 De Soto. Robert Tate told Scott’s tale over at Motorcities.

One would expect that a car as distinctive as the De Soto Adventurer II concept would have an intriguing back story, and it does, but not so much from the Chrysler half of its parentage. Rather, as Michael Lamm pointed out in his story on the Adventurer II in SIA #137, Ghia is to be credited with its design and construction, and even then, it was adapted from an off-the-shelf Ghia design. Nevertheless, it’s become one of the more recognizable Chrysler Corporation concept cars of the 1950s, and Lamm took the opportunity to bring back some driving impressions.

As a mid-level brand, De Sotos were often well equipped, just as Bill O’Brien’s 1956 De Soto Fireflite Sportsman two-door hardtop was when new. With a 255hp four-barrel 330-cu.in. Hemi V-8 and a PowerFlite automatic transmission, the De Soto has power everywhere you look. Videographer Don Ashley caught up with Bill for the story on his car.

Five years ago – an eon in Internet time – we came across the above photo of a lovely model straddling a Hemi at a car show, but provided no more information than that for one of two reasons: Either I was sufficiently distracted, or the UCLA Library’s digital archive didn’t have the corresponding information posted at the time. Most likely the former.

Anyway, let’s correct that and show some more photos. The model’s name is Shirley Buchanan, and she claimed to have won more than 20 beauty queen titles by the early 1950s. The show is the 1952 Los Angeles International Auto Show in the Pan-Pacific Auditorium, the first running of the show since 1940. And the Hemi is the 160hp 276-cu.in. Firedome V-8, which De Soto introduced that year – specifically on February 14, just three weeks or so before these photos were taken on March 7.

What led Ms. Buchanan to pose with the Hemi, we don’t know, but we see her posing with a cutaway Hudson and an Oldsmobile chassis at the show, along with models Carla Lauterer and Janet Brett, in these photos from the USC Digital Library archives.

De Soto never offered a droptop Adventurer during the first year of the nameplate and likely never intended to do so; given the fact that the Adventurer was seen as De Soto’s version of the Chrysler 300, and that the Chrysler 300 didn’t come as a convertible until 1957, it stands to reason that the Adventurer would follow suit. That said, with the right mix-n-match of parts, it wouldn’t take much to build a 1956 Adventurer convertible, and one such creation will soon cross the block.

Taking its name from a pair of Virgil Exner-designed concept cars, the Adventurer bowed in February 1956 – in hardtop form only – as a sub-series of the Fireflite line (which did offer a convertible – in fact, it was a De Soto Fireflite convertible that paced the Indianapolis 500 that year). Befitting its close kinship to the Chrysler 300, the Adventurer got a special 320hp, 341-cu.in. dual-quad Hemi V-8 (which the regular Fireflite didn’t get) along with a pushbutton PowerFlite automatic transmission and heavy-duty suspension. Standard equipment included everything from power windows and power brakes to an electric clock and whitewall tires. Due to the late introduction, De Soto only sold about 996 Adventurers in 1956.

RM Auctions, which will offer the 1956 De Soto Adventurer convertible at the upcoming John Staluppi collection sale with no reserve, doesn’t specify in its auction description who converted a regular 1956 Fireflite convertible (chassis number 50383976) into an Adventurer, but notes that it includes the 341 Hemi, the requisite Adventurer trim, and all the Adventurer’s standard equipment, along with one additional accessory: a Hi-Way Hi-Fi underdash record player. The pre-auction estimate for the convertible ranges from $150,000 to $200,000.

Along with the 1956 convertible, the John Staluppi collection includes a legitimate 1957 De Soto Adventurer convertible in matching black with gold inset, one of 300 1957 Adventurer convertibles built and equipped with the 345hp 345-cu.in. dual-quad Hemi. It too will cross the block at no reserve and with a pre-auction estimate of $150,000 to $200,000.

Exceedingly rare, the De Soto woodie station wagon must not have been a big money-maker for Chrysler, what with its essentially handmade body (that differed even between the two years De Soto offered the body style), standard Tip-Toe semi-automatic transmission, and miniscule sales. One gets the sense from Alex Meredith’s story for SIA #122, April 1991, that the De Soto woodie wagon could have competed successfully with Oldsmobile had Chrysler invested a little more in its development, or possibly introduced it sooner, but then it likely wouldn’t be such a curiosity today.